Striking device



Feb. 14, 1950 H. K. U LLMAN v STRIKING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 28, 1947 H. K. ULLMAN STRIKING DEVICE Feb. 14, 195.9

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 28, 1947 wmww Patented Feb. 14, 1950 UN ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

srannne Device Henry K. Ullman, Washington, D. 9. Application January 28, 1947, .Serial No. 724,732

This invention relates to amusement devices and more particularly to apparatus for striking a ball or movable playing piece in a novel and entertaining manner.

In toys, display devices and games it is common to provide a mechanically operated device for striking a ball, or other playing piece. Some of these striking devices are intended for automatic operation when connected to a suitable power source and others are intended 'for manual operation. Both types may include certain adjustment features whereby the skill of the user is introduced into the operation thereof. Generally speaking, however, the prior art apparatus of this sort includes a striking element such as a hat, a club or a simulated limb which is either mechanically or manually movedin'to contact with either a movable or stationary ball or other playing piece. Most of these devices rely, for the introduction of player skill, upon a movement of the ball or other playing piece and do not afford opportunity for the exercise of player skill in conjunction with a stationary ball. For example, a common type of striking device is the pivoted bat which requires of the operator a sense of timing to swing it at the proper moment in order to engage a movable playing piece. Such a device, however, is clearly not susceptible of use with a stationary playing piece since the swinging action is so simple that the desired efiect is quickly attained by all of the users of the device and its entertainment value is' accordingly reduced.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a manually or mechanically operated striking device which may be used either with a moving or stationary ball or other playing piece and which introduces a lost motion between the driv ing element and the striking element in such a way that the exercise of considerable skillxis required to produce a predetermined striking effect regardless of whether one strikes a moving or a stationary object.

It is contemplated in accordance with the present invention to produce a striking device which may be used in the playing of games, in displays and as a toy to project or displace a movable object such as a balL'an'd to provide for the variable application striking force to the ball and a variable ball trajectory whereby interesting and entertaining variation in the movement of the playing piece is afiorded; 7

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of several embodi- 5 Claims. (Cl. 273-129) ments thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a game board illustrating a typical installation of the striking device of the present invention;

Figure '2 is a view partially in section and partially in side elevation taken along the line 2-2 '01 Figure 1-;

Figure 3 is a view in section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view partially in section illustrating a 'modification of the invention;

Figure 5 is a perspective view illustratin in detail a portion of the modified apparatus of Figure 4; and p I Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 but illustrating still another modification of the invention.

Referring in greater detail to the drawings,

the

' and particularly to Figures 1-3 inclusive, an

elongate, hollow box-like structure -Ill is provided with a generally flat upper surface I I which may simulate the surface of a playing field or be otherwise decorated to meet the requirements of any particular installation. The long sides of the upper surface of the box-like structure Il'll are provided with railings l2 projectin above the plane of the surface H and which act as guides to restrain the undesired escape of a ball 13 from the playing surface. A similar rail or stop 14 is providedat one end of the playing surface. At the other end or the playing surface a striking device constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention .is provided. This striking device is comprised vof a body portion I5, freely pivotedarm portions 16 and freely pivoted leg portions 41. A drive shaft or rod lfl'passes through the body portion 15. The shaft 18 may be in the form of a threaded bolt. locked .to the body portion against rotation relative thereto by a nut l9. A portion of the shaft IIIB projects from thev body portion 15 to the right of the .nut I9, as shown in Figur d, and this projecting portion is mounted for free rotation in :a bearing 20 supported in a standard 2! which is suitably attached at its base to-the playing surface ll. The end of the projecting portion of the shaft l8 which extends beyond the standard to the right thereof, as it is shown in Figur '3, is provided with a sheave 22 which is keyed thereto or otherwise affixed for rotation therewith. This sheave is connected by a belt 23, which may be a 'band of rubber or other resilient material, to a sheave 2t mounted within the box-like structure Ill on a bracket 25, a slot being out in the surface II to permit passage therethrough of the band. The sheave 24 is keyed for rotation with a crank shaft 26 provided with a crank 21 which projects from one side of the box-like structure I0, see again Figure 3.

It is now apparent that rotation of the crank '21 will cause rotation of the sheave 24 which, through the belt 23, will drive the sheave 22 and the shaft I8 to cause rotation of the body portion I of the striking device about the axis of the pivot pin. This movement is not, however, directly imparted to the limbs I6 and I! with the result that the limbs swing freely in response to gravity and centrifugal force about their respective axes at 28 and 29 which are parallel to the axis of the shaft I8. The arm simulating limbs I6 are limited in the magnitude of their angular movement about the axes at 28 by pins 30 and 3I, while the leg simulating limbs are similarly limited by the pins 3| and 32. As can be seen in Figure 2, pin 3I acts as a stop pin for both the arm and leg simulating limbs on that side of the body portion. In View of the fact that he limb which is used for striking the ball I3 in the embodiment shown in the drawing is the left-hand leg simulating limb IT, as viewed in Figure 3, stop pins are not'required for the respective right-hand limbs It and II.

Adjacent and in front of the leg I! which is located on the left side of the body portion, there is provided in the playing surface I I a depression 33 of lesser width than the diameter of the-ball I3 and of sufiicient depth to act as a guide for the ball to retain the same in the plane of movement of the left-hand leg simulating limb I! of the striking device. At the bottom of this depression there is provided a narrow elongate slot 34 the structure and function of which will be hereinafter more fully described. Ball guiding in front of the pocket 38 performs a like function.

It can now be seen that if the ball is placed in the depression at 33 and the crank '21 is turned so as to rotate the body portion I5 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2, the lefthand limb I! will follow around behind the body portion and will fall to a position such as to strike the ball I3 and to cause it to be displaced toward the left-hand of the playing surface I I, as viewed in Figure 2. This movement is somewhat unpredictable and requires a high degree of skill for its satisfactory performance since the 'connection between the body portion I 5 and the ring portion I! is a free pivot and since the connection between the pulleys 24 and 22 is a resilient band. The ball will be engaged, however, and projected toward the left-hand of the playing field where it may become lodged in one of the receiving pockets 37 or 38, these pockets being assigned arbitrary scoring values corresponding to the difficulty encountered in causing the striking device to knock a ball into them.

Because of the elongate nature of the depression 33, the ball will not be displaced from guided position when the limb I'I touches it at the beginning of its clockwise movement. At this time it will be moved slightly to the left of the Figure 2 position until the foot portion of the limb II clears it, and it will then fall back by gravity to a position lying in the path of the leg portion so that it can be kicked as the body portion I5 is rotated, the depth of the depression 33 increasing slightly in the direction of the right end of the surface I I as viewed in Figure 2.

In Figures 4 and 5 there is shown a modification of the invention in which the ball is kicked upwardly to a marked extent. This arrangement may be made, for example, with simulated football goal posts or the like. The slot 34 in this case receives a guiding projection 4I on a wedgeshaped ball guide 42 which has a curved upper surface 43. The ball is placed in the curved surface 43 and is kicked in the manner shown in Figure 4. As the foot of the kicking limb is initially moved, the ball goes to the upper edge of the surface 43 and then falls back adjacent the lower edge as the body portion I5 is being rotated and at the moment of impact the ball is resting on the lower or left edge of the surface 43 so that when struck it is guided by that surface to assume a high trajectory.

A slightly modified form of the wedge of Figures 4 and 5 is shown in Figure 6. Here, however, the Wedge which bears reference numeral 44 is associated with the depression 33 and assumes a forward position therein. The ball is kicked exactly as described in connection with Figures 1, 2 and 3 except that after being struck it engages the inclined surface of the wedge 44 and is given a high trajectory. Instead of using a wedge having a guiding projection as is indicated in Figures 4, 5 and 6, it is entirely feasible to use a flat bottom wedge which may be disposed in any position in front of the kicking limb of the device by merely resting it on the playing surface. This modification can be used with simulated goal posts and the goal posts and wedge both being subject to adjustment relative to the kicking device, afford a very large number of relative positions in which the ball may be kicked through the goal posts.

While this invention has been described with respect to its use in a game device, it is apparent that the kicker alon may be used as a toy or that several kickers might be associated together in a display device. It is also apparent that various modifications in the structure of the striking device, the selection of the limb used for striking and the operation of the device may be undertaken within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An amusement device comprising a support, an elongated body portion, means mounting said body portion for rotationabout a horizontal axis above said support, a limb portion mounted on said body portion for free pivotal movement with respect thereto about a horizontal axis eccentric to said first-mentioned horizontal axis, said limb portion extending to a position adjacent said support when the point of its pivotal attachment to the body portion is nearest to said support and means for rotating said body portion so that an object resting on said support may be displaced by said limb portion.

2. An amusement device comprising a body portion, means mounting said body portion for rotation about a horizontal axis, a limb portion attached to said body portion for free pivotal movement with respect thereto about a horizontal axis eccentric to said first-mentioned horizontal 5 axis, said limb portion having a fre end extending beyond the arc described by any part of the body portion in its rotation, a table to which said mounting means is attached and means supported by said table for rotating said body portion.

3. An amusment device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising driving means for rotating said body portion about the first-mentioned horizontal axis and resilient means connecting said driving means to said mounting means.

4. An amusement device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising stop means projecting from said body portion for limiting the magnitude of the pivotal movement of the limb portion relative to the body portion.

5. An amusement device comprising a body portion, means mounting said body portion for rotation about an axis; a limb portion attached to said body portion for free pivotal movement 6 with respect thereto about an axis parallel but eccentric to the first-mentioned axis, said limb portion having a free end extending beyond the are described by any part of the body portion in its rotation and a table to which said mounting means is attached.

HENRY K. ULLMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,429,656 Stonebridge Sept. 19, 1922 2,199,181 Collins Apr. 30', 1940 2,289,421 Grieshaber July 14, 1942 2,294,035 Kellerman Aug. 25, 1942 2,419,770 Glass Apr. 29, 1947 

